stevel48

Thanks John. I got the sword form a John Hostetter . We're all in it togther I guess. I got a saya wth it too and full mountings plus the sword bag. I got the seller down $200 on the price. Now I have to see if it's worth polishing. I know I want a new saya and handle done and i need menuki.

Swords are so confusing..sheesh.. Now i wonder if it's an area of shintetsu. I wish there was a club in new england or a person I could show it to.

it does look like other Higo Namako.

It could very well be. The metal is very soft Ford.

Ouch, that was quite a loss? I paid just $1400 for my sword and all of the fittings.

this is/was the area in question

I don't think I'll really know until someone else looks at the sword or i send it out for polishing. I got the sword and all of the fittings at a fair price so even if it had nioi gire I'd keep it. I got into nihonto for the history and interest of samurai and not to collect and turn over for profits. I think that If i were in it to flip swords I'd be unhappy. Does that make sense? I'm happy to own one in any condition really. To know it was made by hand, in Japan several hundred years ago for a samurai makes me happy.

I think i'm safe after looking closer and closer over and over. I wish there was someone in Mass I could show the sword to to get their input.

Is it running off the blade here? Is it just activity? It might be hard to see. Can this be fixed with a polish if so. I understand that this type of flaw is fixable the sword could use a polish.

I cleaned it in warm soapy distilled water with a sonic toothbrush for an hour and found what brass remains. I bet it was a work of art in its day.

What if it was gold work and not Brass? Is that possible? wAs gold used then? I would expect the soft gold to wear after hundreds of years. Gold inlay

I'm a rookie. I would agree that it probably never had brass inlay since there are no traces of brass.

its all gone

more

more photos [

Signed -Nagahiro 63.7 cm.nagasa Blade-Suriage Katana Hada-kind of a mystery--ko makume & hada mono? I dont see much of a patern at all really http://www.nihontocraft.com/nihonto_jigane_vari.html Hamon- midare gunome-osafune posting.php?mode=edit&f=1&p=49678 Kissaki-chu Boshi-midare kome Mune-Iori I'm new at this and I'm trying to determine if my answers above are right. I'm trying to place the era. Is it a late koto blade or early edo. To me it looks like middle to late muromachi which would fit with a Bizen Kozori Nagahiro smith. http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/images ... story2.gif The Mei and Info found here http://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths?page=109 Nakago has been been shortened by 3 inches. The fittings match the Koto period. My guess is--Eikyo or SUE-BIZEN SCHOOL http://www.shibuiswords.com/bizen%20mur ... 0study.htm

what about a case where all of the brass is missing. I'm sure it was beautiful in it's day. I would love to have a copy made so you could keep the old and have a new copy to show it's original configuration. (the sword is coming in thsi week so I have some active rust to remove on the tsuba as you can see) I'll do a wash with hand soap and then use bone to scrape away the rust. I hear that that's the way to do it. -S

Can little or no value be put into a monetary unit? Does higare make the average shinshinto blade worth $100, $500, $1000,$0? In my book it's worth more than some stamped $500-$1000 modern kata because of it's historical value and cultural significance.

"When you hear galloping hooves in the distance, it's better to assume they're a horse and not a zebra" Great point.

Just to play devils advocate, what do you thibk of the kiyo vs. naga. I Imagine that Naga has several variations in the signature and is an individual thing.

no no , it's just that I couldn't see what you guys are seeing..the right side of the character.

bingo...now i see it. Thanks for making it crystal clear now.

I'm new at this guys so I hare to ask questions and learn as much as I can. My understanding is that eack kanji is part of the name. This sword has 2 and the first one being as you say naga and the second one being hiro. Am I at least correct in my understanding? So on Steve's kanji charts I found 2 names that matched the first kanji character, Naga and Kiyo. I feel that Kiyo is a slightly better match. I didn't find anything that matched the 2nd kanji for hiro. Feel free to point out which character says what and why. Please don't take my questions as an insult as they're not meant to be.

Steve, those kanji were fantastic. Thank you. I now believe that the first kanji is Kiyo and not Naga. The 2nd is still unknown.

It's so faint that maybe I'l never really know. the darn thing looks 500 years old though with the pitting and discoloration. The shape of the blade matches up with the Momoyama period. I just can't find a match for that 2nd kanji character. It may have been cut off. Looks like the nakago may have been shortened. Steve